Search results for "evolution"
showing 10 items of 11096 documents
Networks and health care systems
1996
The network concept has been successful in the economic littérature and in the health care economics littérature. However the network concept is not easy to define. In the first part, this paper suggests a framework for network conceptions analysis :first, network can be conceived as a structure of economic organisation (such as infrastructure networks), or as a coordination mode, alternative and different from market or hierarchy coordination. In the second part, this paper analyses recent mutations in the health care system (such as cooperation relationships between several hospitals and private clinics, networks between hospitals and ambulatory medical care...) from the network concept a…
Olfactory cues and the value of information : Voles interpret cues differently based on recent predator encounters
2018
Prey strategically respond to the risk of predation by varying their behavior while balancing the tradeoffs of food and safety. We present here an experiment that tests the way the same indirect cues of predation risk are interpreted by bank voles, Myodes glareolus, as the game changes through exposure to a caged weasel. Using optimal patch use, we asked wild-caught voles to rank the risk they perceived. We measured their response to olfactory cues in the form of weasel bedding, a sham control in the form of rabbit bedding, and an odor-free control. We repeated the interviews in a chronological order to test the change in response, i.e., the changes in the value of the information. We found…
Dead wood profile of a semi-natural boreal forest – implications for sampling
2019
Dead wood profile of a forest is a useful tool for describing forest characteristics and assessing forest disturbance history. Nevertheless, there are few studies on dead wood profiles, including both coarse and fine dead wood, and on the effect of sampling intensity on the dead wood estimates. In a semi-natural boreal forest, we measured every dead wood item over 2 cm in diameter from 80 study plots. From eight plots, we further recorded dead wood items below 2 cm in diameter. Based on these data we constructed the full dead wood profile, i.e. the overall number of dead wood items and their distribution among different tree species, volumes of different size and decay stage categories. We …
Towards a framework for assessment and management of cumulative human impacts on marine food webs
2015
Effective ecosystem-based management requires understanding ecosystem responses to multiple human threats, rather than focusing on single threats. To understand ecosystem responses to anthropogenic threats holistically, it is necessary to know how threats affect different components within ecosystems and ultimately alter ecosystem functioning. We used a case study of a Mediterranean seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) food web and expert knowledge elicitation in an application of the initial steps of a framework for assessment of cumulative human impacts on food webs. We produced a conceptual seagrass food web model, determined the main trophic relationships, identified the main threats to the fo…
The effects of grazing history, soil properties and stand structure on the communities of saprotrophic fungi in wood-pastures
2022
Wood-pastures are threatened anthropogenic biotopes that provide habitat for an extensive group of species. Here we studied the effect of management, grazing intensity, time since abandonment, historical land-use intensity, soil properties and stand conditions on communities of saprotrophic fungi in wood-pastures in Central Finland. We found that the proportion of broadleaved trees and soil pH are the major drivers in the communities of saprotrophic fungi in these boreal wood-pastures. In addition, tree species richness, soil moisture, historical land-use intensity and time since abandonment affected the communities of saprotrophic fungi. Current management or grazing intensity did not have…
High precision numerical approach for Davey–Stewartson II type equations for Schwartz class initial data
2020
We present an efficient high-precision numerical approach for Davey–Stewartson (DS) II type equa- tions, treating initial data from the Schwartz class of smooth, rapidly decreasing functions. As with previous approaches, the presented code uses discrete Fourier transforms for the spatial dependence and Driscoll’s composite Runge–Kutta method for the time dependence. Since DS equations are non-local, nonlinear Schrödinger equations with a singular symbol for the non-locality, standard Fourier methods in practice only reach accuracy of the order of 10−6or less for typical examples. This was previously demonstrated for the defocusing integrable case by comparison with a numerical approach for …
Editorial: Chemical Ecology and Conservation Biological Control
2022
International audience
Data from: Sex-specific effects of natural and sexual selection on the evolution of life span and ageing in Drosophila simulans
2015
1. Variation in the strength of age-dependent natural selection shapes differences in ageing rates across species and populations. Likewise, sexual selection can promote divergent patterns of senescence across the sexes. However, the effects of these processes on the evolution of ageing have largely been considered independently, and interactions between them are poorly understood. 2. We use experimental evolution to investigate how natural and sexual selection affect life span and ageing in Drosophila simulans. 3. Replicate populations were evolved under lifetime monogamy (relaxed sexual selection) or lifetime polyandry (elevated sexual selection) and at one of two temperatures, 25 °C (rel…
Sequential infection can decrease virulence in a fish–bacterium–fluke interaction: Implications for aquaculture disease management
2019
Hosts are typically infected with multiple strains or genotypes of one or several parasite species. These infections can take place simultaneously, but also at different times, i.e. sequentially, when one of the parasites establishes first. Sequential parasite dynamics are common in nature, but also in intensive farming units such as aquaculture. However, knowledge of effects of previous exposures on virulence of current infections in intensive farming is very limited. This is critical as consecutive epidemics and infection history of a host could underlie failures in management practises and medical intervention of diseases. Here, we explored effects of timing of multiple infection on viru…
Sex Allocation Theory for Facultatively Sexual Organisms Inhabiting Seasonal Environments: The Importance of Bet Hedging
2018
Adaptive explanations for dormancy often invoke bet hedging, where reduced mean fitness can be adaptive if it associates with reduced fitness variance. Sex allocation theory typically ignores variance effects and focuses on mean fitness. For many cyclical parthenogens, these themes become linked, as only sexually produced eggs undergo the dormancy needed to survive harsh conditions. We ask how sex allocation and the timing of sex evolve when this constraint exists in the form of a trade-off between asexual reproduction and sexual production of dormant eggs—the former being crucial for within-season success and the latter for survival across seasons. We show that male production can be tempo…